"For the empire's glory"
He chanted before he activated the giant circle causing a rift in space to open, leaking a dark miasma
This energy seeped into the bodies scattered all over the hall before a new magic circle was created in thin air
"It worked"
The figure beside Ryan remarked with a smile on his face as they watched from a safe distance above the room
The new magic circle shifted everything in the room, including the figure that started up the array into the rift before shutting it
The room now spotless and clean, with only a beautiful magic circle spinning in the air
The magician in the room had done his job, ensuring the success of the mission, even at the cost of his life
"Now then young master, for your contributions in this mission, why don't you have the honour of going through with this first"
The figure said as he looked at Ryan, bearing his aura down on him, it was clear he wasn't going to take no for an answer
Ryan had no choice but to walk inside the now empty hall towards the magic circle
On getting to it, memories of his time with the kid and Diara flashed through his mind, and his heart burned, if only be was strong, strong enough to impose his will in the the worldz none of this would have happened
The circle glowed and spun faster as if in response to his thoughts, and as soon as he touched the circle, Ryan vanished.
********************************
Ramona was finally able to convince the old seer and was given permission to leave the habitat
Well she called it permission but the old seer was just sneaking the her sneaking her out
Not that she wasn't grateful or anything, she really appreciated the help, she just hoped it wasn't too late
The warp gate had been calibrated for the forest near Gamora as it would be bad if she just appeared in the middle of town and she was just waiting for it to finish charging up before she popped it
She also had a pass inscribed into her soul as that was the only way back into the habitat, without that she'd be stranded on Kreatia until she could call someone to pick her up
It finally finished charging and Ramona was ready to depart
"Remember young one to follow your heart, it will guide you when it matters most"
The old seer said as she looked at Ramona
"I will grandma, see you soon, may the will be with you"
And with that she stepped in the warp gate departing for her destination
The old seer was left alone in the warp room and she could only sigh
Fate had been obscured for a while back but she could tell that Ramona was heading towards her destiny
Depending on what happened where she was going, the world might either be saved or destroyed, no other person could interrupt or help, it was all up to Ramona and the individual she was about to meet
"May the will be with you both, for all our sakes"
She said before she went back to her residence. She died in her sleep that night
*********************************
A beam of light came rushing from the sky and hit the floor before vanishing
In its place however was a young woman with silver hair. She had blue pupils however they were slit, reminiscent to that of a serpent
The woman was Ramona and she had arrived at her destination after receiving help from the old seer
She was dressed in a battle robe that consisted of an upper robe-like garment that extends to just above her knees but had slits on the sides to allow easy movement and had a belt by the waist are to fasten it to her body , an inner top that was worn underneath the robe and trousers with boots to cover her lower side
She looked around to accertain her distance from Gamora but discovered the area she was in was nowhere like a forest, instead it looked like a wasteland, the remains of a battlefield
The sky was reddish and no moon or sun could be seen, the earth was uneven, sinking in at some part while shooting up into the sky at another part
Two distinct liquids, one red, the other black stretched across the lands like veins across one's screen, interwoven, connected yet different
What stuck her most however, was the cracks that were scattered everywhere, from the land, to what she assumed were streams, to the very air and the sky
"Just where am I?"
Ramona asked out loud, trying to discern if she was not hallucinating as this wasn't what Gamora was supposed to look like
The sight in front of her however was too vivid and life-like to be a dream
***********************************
The ritual had been successful and all the boddlies that had been offered as offering for had been sucked into the rift before being closed
The masked figure that initiated the ritual looked across the reddish sky and the grotesque scene spread across him
More bodies than he could count were stretched across the land and strange creatures had jumped out of the cracks that could be seen everywhere feasting on them
He stretched out his arms uttering
"For the glory of the em….."
But he wasn't able to complete his speech before his head was bitten of by a creature from behind
Noah was lying on the floor amidst the bodies, a stake still pierced his heart but strange he wasn't dead yet, he was on the verge of dying though
His blood flowed from his heart to one of the dark streams not far from his position, creatibg a path that joined his body to the stream
The liquid in the stream travelled up that path before entering into his heart via the injury and spreading across his body
A crack opened above Noah's body and a shadowy blob with no distinct figure apart from the nine tails at the end dropped out of it, fallen unto Noah's chest
It pulled out the stake stuck in his chest before seeping into his body via the opening
Noah's eye opened but it was all black, the schelera and pupils all the same, you couldn't tell one from the other
He then sat down in an lotus position before he begun speaking a monotone voice and pattern
"The greed of mankind truly knows no bound, it hasn't even been ten years and the backup placed on this body has been activated"
Noah, or to be more precise the figure inhabiting the body shop his head as he inspected itself
"I see, nether has been introduced into this vessel while aether is still present, to make matters worse, there's an abomination currently in the process of fusion with the body, trying to stop this would just acceleratedl the death of this vessel"
"It seems the only reason the vessel was even able to survive was due to this aether spirit continually healing and serving as a supply to fight the nether, but when that runs out, the outcome will still be death"
"Aether and nether cannot dwell in the same vessel alone, you'll need the third origin to keep them in equilibrium, however you cannot perish yet"
The figure raised its hand and 2 migic circles formed, one above him, the other below him, spinning in opposite directions
"You wont remember any of this when you wake up, but your body will instinctively remember the important bits, unfortunately with me appearing now, the only chance you'd have to know the truth would be gone until you find a key"
"But you haven't found an answer yet, so I have no choice but to do this"
The aether water spirit, Maria's spirit was moved to Noah's heart alongside Diara's soul essence
"I'm sorry little ones, well I thank you for keeping this vessel alive, I would have to take advantage of you once again, his journey isn't complete yet, so please forgive me"
Now 3 pieces of dense energy was present in the position where Noah's heart should have been
(A.N Remember the former heart had been pierced with a stake so there's a huge hole in his chest where his heart should be, it was only thanks to the Maria's water spirit continually healing him and the sorcerery that he's still alive)
Aether, Ether and Nether
"These 3 pieces will serve as the root for your new heart"
As the figure spoke the two magic circles spun and glowed, and Maria's water spirit, Diara's soul essence and the shadowy mass split apart into dense raw energy
"להרוס כדי לשחזר"
Before fusing, they settled in the right position before filling the void in his chest, his heart now restored
"Now listen carefully, I might have dealt with the troublesome part, but you're not out of danger yet
One year
I have sealed most of the aether in your body so it wouldn't interact with the nether so you'll have to learn how to manipulate nether and use it to survive here
However if you don't find an ether source and ingest it, you would die when the seal on the aether breaks"
"Balance needs to be maintained, remember, one year"
"If you're able to survive, perhaps one day you'd find out the truth behind your existence"
As he finished saying those words, Noah's body fell back, however this time, the magic circle glowing atop and below him stopped any creatures from nearing him